Computer Class Notes 7-30-2020

Using The Windows 10 Character Map



Win+R and type CHARMAP



Choose the character you want and it will be copied to the clipboard. Then paste it in whatever application it is needed.

How to Make a Playlist on YouTube
A YouTube playlist is the best way to create a tailored list containing your favorite videos. You can group videos together by channel or interest, as well as share your playlist for others to use or edit.

Open the first video



Click SAVE



Create new playlist



Give it a name and click CREATE

Click The List

To add another song, open the song and then click SAVE and check the playlist it should be added to. It happens instantly. Refresh the list and you will see it has been added.
https://tinyurl.com/y324njk9

Check Your Laptop Battery Health
The Windows 10 Battery Report feature breaks down whether your battery is still kicking or on its last legs. Here's how to monitor your laptop's battery

Right-click Start > Command Prompt (Admin)

(or Windows PowerShell (Admin))

Type powercfg /batteryreport /output "C:\battery-report.html" > Enter


Open C:\battery-report.html to view the report

Scroll down to see the details
https://tinyurl.com/yye8pfls

How to Change Chrome’s Default Text Size
If you often have trouble comfortably reading websites in Google Chrome due to text that is too large or too small, it’s easy to change the default font size (and font face) for every page on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chromebooks. Here’s how.

We know about Ctrl+ and Ctrl- to change the size. You can also use Ctrl+scroll wheel.



Can also, in Chrome, Settings > Font size



And change the default Page zoom
https://tinyurl.com/y5ga94me

Reduce Google Chrome’s Memory Usage
The web has changed in recent years. Applications that would only run on desktop computers now run in the browser, but this comes at a cost. Modern browsers use a lot of RAM, and Chrome is among the worst offenders.

Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager to see how much memory Chrome is using.

Each tab is using a block of memory. Close tabs to free that memory. You can also use an extension.


I have used OneTab in the past and it does a great job. Each tab is closed, replaced by a list of shortcuts to each of the tabs you had open. In my case, it reduced the memory in use from over 2 GB to 600 MB. As you need to reopen a tab just click the link.
https://tinyurl.com/yd4m96fs

The Best Way to Clean Battery Acid Off Your Gadgets
If you’ve put away a device and forgotten to take out the batteries, the terminals are probably covered in battery acid by now. The good news is, you can clean them pretty easily, depending on the severity of the leak.

This is not a computer thing but could be with the battery in your wireless mouse and keyboard. More likely in that portable radio or flashlight you have not used in a while.
https://tinyurl.com/vlxe5cr

How to Set Up a Home NetworkToday almost every home and small offices have a local network and an Internet connection. The home network or small office network enables multiple devices e.g. PCs, tablets, etc to connect to each other, and also to connect to the internet. In this video tutorial, you will learn how to build and set up a home or small office network and connect it to the Internet.

My first question is why? If you are using the available cloud storage that comes with Windows 10 or websites like Google Drive or Dropbox you have the ability to share with anyone in your home or elsewhere. Of course, you do need a working Internet connection which we kinda take for granted nowadays.



Win+I > Shared experiences



Click Change connection properties




Make it Private



Change advanced sharing options




Set the Private settings as above



Change the All Networks settings as above

Open File Explorer




Right-click Documents folder and Give access to Specific people…



Dropdown > Everyone > Add



Change Read to Read/Write

Click Share





Save the resulting path for use on another PC

Click Done

On another computer:

Do the same procedure as above. Save the link address created there for use on this computer. You will use these addresses to Map the shared drives on each PC. (Note: the video shows how to have the second computer be Windows 7)

Next, you will want to Map the shared folder to a drive letter for easy access.





In File Manager click This PC > Computer tab > Map network drive



Paste the link address from the other PC and then click Finish

Now the shared computer is mapped and will be found under This PC



And it shows under This PC as Documents on the shared PC. Notice the green bar indicating it is a shared drive.

The following is a link on YouTube to an excellent video on How to Share Files, Folders & Drives Between Computers Over a Network
https://youtu.be/3-C3v82zOgE

Facebook Private Messages
By signing into my Facebook account on my computer I can go into an individual person's message area and set it up so that I don't receive the notifications but at the same time remain friends with them.



Click the Messages icon on Facebook’s title bar.

Click on the gear to locate the options.



Choose Mute conversation

Click the Until I turn it back on radio button, then click Mute.

Now they will no longer interrupt your day with meaningless (in my opinion) videos and cute memes. By the way, sending it to ten friends does not grant you special blessings.

Belarc Advisor
The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, network inventory, any missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, security benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser. All of your PC profile information is kept private on your PC and is not sent to any web server.
https://tinyurl.com/y68zoh3d

Zoom Backgrounds For Free
If you want to show your face on camera, then you also let people in on your surroundings a.k.a. your bare walls, makeshift office spa, and so on. Since the thought of sprucing up your home in a time like this seems, well, impossible with everything else you're juggling, we've rounded up the best Zoom backgrounds that'll refresh your space — no tools, money, or shopping trips required.
https://tinyurl.com/ycznhr2t

A Green Screen Cheap

Find the following at Dollar Tree





Tape two Green posterboards to the trifold. Then place this behind you in some way. I hang mine from a couple of eye hooks in the ceiling. You could lean it on a chair behind you. This will coast less than $3.00

Computer Class Notes 7-23-2020

Pictures In Google Docs
How do I position photos where I want them? In the past text boxes and the move tool allowed for all sorts of changes in color, text sizes and fonts, and the same with photos. I could place anything anywhere I wanted.

How to Move an Image in Google Docs
Click on the image and in the menu below it change the mode to Wrap Text.
Use the scroll arrows on your keyboard to move the images into place.
Hold the Shift key down to move the images with the scroll arrows in smaller increments.

The Ultimate Zoom Guide:
Best Zoom Tips, Tricks and How-tos
View content https://tinyurl.com/yyhxe2zs

I just installed Win10 2004 and noticed 2 changes that I'd like to have reverted back to 1909.

Start Menu: Programs list missing on left side. View appears to be either Tiles or List, not both, as in previous versions.





Screen Capture: Print Screen Key now takes only FULL Screen image, rather than offering clip options.



How can I get these options back?

Win+I > search Print Screen
Gmail
HOW to MOVE a Gmail email From 'Social or Promotions' to PRIMARY.

Click on the email to open it




Click the vertical ellipsis and then Filter messages…




Create filter




Categorize and then choose the category, then click Create filter

Wi-Fi and ethernet maximum speedsMbps stands for megabits per second. A character is made up of 8 bits, or one byte of memory. Therefore 54 Mbps is actually 6.75 MBps.

Protocol Theoretical Maximum Bitrate

802.11b 11 Mbps
802.11a 54 Mbps
802.11g 54 Mbps
802.11n 600 Mbps
802.11ac 6,933 Mbps WiFi 5
802.11ax 9,608 Mbps WiFi 6

Wired ethernet in the home generally supports one of three maximum speeds:

10 Mbps (rare these days, but can be present in older equipment)
100 Mbps (currently most common)
1000 Mbps (aka “gigabit”, typical in newer equipment)

Display Virtual LED Indicators
If your keyboard doesn't have an LED indicator for Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, or Num Lock, you can use applications like AddLEDs or 7Caps to get an on-screen indicator. These programs may also be useful if the keyboard is not in reach, or if the keys are no longer functioning.
http://tinyurl.com/y7amy5xj

Google Search Cheat Sheet
How many times have you searched Google only to get a bunch of incorrect or unrelated search results that you wish you could filter out? Well, with a few search shortcuts, you can narrow down your search results and always get the exact results you’re looking for.
https://tinyurl.com/y4nhl3mv

A Freeware Image Editor
Pictor is kind of a mixed bag. It is a freeware image editor with a lot of options, filters, batch processing tools, but it is not a full-blown image editor such as Photoshop, GIMP, or Paint.net. The program is portable. Run it to be greeted by a rather simple interface that has an image canvas at the center, a menu bar, and a minimal toolbar at the top of the screen.
https://tinyurl.com/ycf9hnpr

How to Defragment Your Hard Drive
Over time, a hard drive can begin to operate with less efficiency due to fragmentation in the file system. To speed up your drive, you can defragment and optimize it in Windows 10 using a built-in tool. Here’s how.

Remember that Windows defrags in the idle times automatically. However, your external drives are not being defragged. You may check to see if your drives are in need of defragging.



Win+I > Defrag

https://tinyurl.com/yd8xmrk6

Factory Reset Your Windows ComputerFactory resets are the nuclear solution for many Windows issues. If your computer is far slower than it once was, you have a malware infection that won’t go away or plan to sell your machine, a factory reset is the most convenient solution.

Reset is a good way to solve some ongoing issues your system may have developed over time. However, your non-Microsoft applications will be removed. You can choose to keep your data. The removed applications will have to be reinstalled.
https://tinyurl.com/y76w3d95

Using Disk Cleanup in Windows 10
Over time, it’s not uncommon for files to accumulate on your system — unused files, old files, or files you no longer need. There are many reasons for this buildup. if you dig into the details. Fortunately, you don’t need to dig into details to clean things up; Windows includes a helpful disk clean-up tool for just this kind of thing.

With 2004 the Downloads folder is not defaulted to being checked. Be careful in 1909 or earlier. If you do not uncheck all your downloads will be removed. The maintenance programs we run like Glary Utilities removes the temporary files for us, so this Disk Cleanup is probably not needed.
https://tinyurl.com/yc8csely

Incremental Backup
We have talked about a number of backup programs in the past. We have been teaching on Macrium Reflect and EaseUS todo backup. All we've talked about in the past is using them to create a complete image backup of our system.

This works very well but what do we do in between backups? Whatever is changed since our last full image backup can easily be lost if the hard drive fails and we have to resort to that last image.

So there are three different types of backups.

1. A full image backup
2. A differential backup
3. An incremental backup

Both of the last two types take a look at what you backed up in your last full image and then only back up what has changed since then. The incremental backup creates a copy of just what has changed since the last incremental backup. The differential backup backs up everything changed since the last Full backup.

For example, suppose you do a full backup on Sunday. An incremental backup on Monday backs up anything changed since Sunday. The Tuesday incremental backs up anything changed since the Monday incremental. A differential backup on Tuesday will backup everything changed since the Sunday backup and a Wednesday differential will backup everything changed since Sunday including what is on the Tuesday differential.

So if you are faithful to doing a differential backup daily or at least often, if your computer crashes you will use both the last full image and the latest differential backup to restore your computer to the point in time that you took that last differential.

https://youtu.be/OPle8CvNqWY Video from EaseUS explaining the difference

Images In An Email
When you compose an email if you have an image to include simply open the image and copy it to the clipboard. Then you can paste that image into your email. The same can be said for images and words from a word processing program. Simply open the document then Ctrl plus a to select everything. Then simply copy and paste into the email you are composing. The words and the images will all be included in the email. This works for Yahoo! and Gmail. I cannot speak to other email situations.

Online OCR
In Saturday's class, I showed how to take a picture of a document and convert into a word processing file that could be edited. To do this I simply took a picture with my cell phone camera and then uploaded it to the website jpg2doc web site. The resulting downloadable .doc file is a ready to edit word document. There are other formats it will convert to but I like .doc because it can be opened in a number of different word processing programs. I've recently written an article regarding this at Dave's Computer Tips.

Computer Class Notes 7-16-2020

Link to the video of the class: Click Here

What do I do after I select restart after downloading updates (pending restart request) and the PC doesn't finish restart? My Laptop has been in the restart mode for 15 minutes now. What do I do?

Be patient. Depending on the speed of your PC and the extent of the updates being installed, it may take a while. If you really think you have given it enough time, hold down the power button until the PC shuts off. Then turn it back on.

How does one find a restore point to reboot the PC?

Win+I > type Restore > select Creat a restore point



Click System Restore > Next



Then click the restore point you want to return to and then click Next

How do you get single spacing In the address portion of a letter. When I hit return or enter I get a double space. I'm typing a letter from a blank new document. How do I type a simple letter just like Word 97?

In Word 97 pressing Enter ended the paragraph and brought you to the next line. In Word 2007 and on, pressing Enter ended the paragraph and s

How do I connect my Android to my car Bluetooth?
The first time you connect your phone to the car, you are required to pair your phone and car via Bluetooth. Make sure to turn on Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on your phone. Turn on your car. Make sure your car is in park (P) and that you have time to set up Android Auto.

Is there a trash folder in Gmail? if so how do I find it?
Click the Gear > See all settings > Labels tab > scroll to find Trash and change Hide to View.

Connected to Wi-Fi, But No Internet
You sit down to get some work done on your Windows computer, and that’s when you see it. The dreaded yellow triangle appears over your internet connection icon, annoyingly proclaiming that you have No Internet Access.

Most have a single box that comes from their Internet Provider. It is actually two boxes in one--a modem that connects to the service provider and the Internet and a router that provides hardwire connectivity (RJ35) to your inhouse network and wireless connectivity to the same network. Your inhouse network does not net Internet access to work. Your computer can still talk to your printer with or without the Internet.

Usually cycling down the “box” will fix the problem. Turn off the modem/router and turn off the PC. Then restart the modem/router and when that is fully up, turn on the PC.

To be sure the issue is with your service provider, connect to a different one. I turn my cell phone hot spot on and make sure my PC connects. If it does not, I have a PC issue. If it does, I have a service provider issue.
https://tinyurl.com/yckokbwx

Download YouTube Video and Audio



We have talked about this before and I have been using it often to download YouTube videos or the audio from a video to my own PC.

Find the video > add the letters “pp” before the .com in the address box > press the Enter key, then follow the prompts

Billions of combinations of TV services
Suppose.TV compares billions of combinations of TV services and finds the best for you. To begin, update your location if necessary and select your favorite channels. Suppose is a tool for searching and comparing video services. Based on your preferences, Suppose shows you detailed information about your video service options so you can make the best choices.

This is not a menu for free TV. It is a way to select the programming you need to have at your house. Once selected this site reveals the places you can go to and be able to have those shows at your house.
https://tinyurl.com/y7csg5l7

Why You Shouldn’t Get Rid of Old Photos
I have a couple of family photo albums and a few framed shots sprinkled around my apartment, but the other day I found myself wanting to look at others. I was struck by a wave of nostalgia so powerful that it overcame the sense of dread I feel every time I have to head down to my building’s basement and dig through the plastic bins that hold my old images.

Keeping your old photos is your choice. Maybe the kids will want them and they can make their choice in their time. Using our cell phone cameras we can snap pictures of the ones we want to keep, print to hang on a wall, or put up on our Facebook page. Once we have done that, we can put that box of old pictures in the trash or hide it away for the kids to find.
https://tinyurl.com/y7fzne7c

How To Add A Caption To A Picture
Locate the picture and open it in Paint.



Grab the lower right box and drag down to create a white space



Now you have a place to add teh caption



On the File tab, click the A and drag a box in the whote space



Save the completed picture with the caption. It is a good time to label the image with a descriptive name as well. In this case, perhaps it could be saved as Dad and Pokey 1946.jpg and save it in a folder perhaps where you can find similar genre later.

Get Your Pictures From Facebook To Google Photos In A Flash
In April 2020 Facebook made a new feature in Canada and the USA that enabled you to save a picture directly into Google Photos. This video shows you the correct Facebook settings that allows this process to happen.



On the FB title bar, pull down the arrow to the right of your name and select Settings. Then click on Your Facebook information.
https://youtu.be/Z-fqlsS0zos \

Computer Class Notes 7-9-2020

See the video at https://tinyurl.com/y7bjdyxd

A Charging Hub
I'm shopping for a charging hub and have found 30 watts, 40 watts, 25 watts, 22 watt - how much does the wattage matter?

Standard chargers that come with iPhones and older Android phones carry 1 amp of current and put out 5 watts of power. New rapid chargers with technology such as Quick Charge support 2 amps and 12 watts or more, potentially charging your phone up to four times faster.

Watts = Amps x Volts and is also known as Va or volt-amps

A typical cell phone charger is 1 or 2 (see label on the charger). The bigger the number the faster the charge.

The Best New Windows 10 Features in the May 2020 UpdateLet’s take a look at some of the new features and updates in the latest version of Windows. We’ve kept an archive of notable features from previous updates, in case you’re interested. Feel free to jump ahead to any section.
https://tinyurl.com/ybvvz35o

Here are some of the features I thought were significant:

1. Reset This PC



Reinstalling Windows becomes a lot more convenient. Previously, when you wanted to factory reset or refresh Windows, the process would use the OS files on your computer. Now, you can choose the Cloud download option to reinstall Windows from the internet instead.

2. Task Manager



The Task Manager has picked up a few handy tricks in the latest update. For each Disk entry, you’ll now see SSD or HDD to let you know what kind of storage medium it is.

3. Sign-in Options

The latest update to Windows 10 includes a toggle that forces you to use a Windows Hello sign-in option instead of a password for any Microsoft accounts on your device.




Head to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and enable the toggle under Require Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts. This requires you to use one of the above methods on the same page, such as a PIN or fingerprint.

4. Using a PIN to sign into Windows 10 is better for security because the PIN is local to that device. Someone who stole your PIN could only use it to sign into your PC, while they could use your Microsoft account password to break into your email, Skype, Xbox, and other accounts.

5. Rename Virtual Desktops



You can now rename the virtual desktops you create on the Win+Tab menu. Instead of simply Desktop 1, Desktop 2, and so on, you can make them easier to identify at a glance.

Just click the name to adjust it. Naming them according to their purpose (like Entertainment or Work) should come in handy.

6. Enhanced PC Searching



Windows 10 search now gives you more options. Head to Settings > Search to find them.

Under Permissions & History, you’ll find options to filter explicit content in web results and what content to search from your connected Microsoft accounts. The most interesting options, however, are on the Searching Windows tab.

Here, you can select a new Enhanced search mode. Before this, Windows 10 would only search your file libraries and desktop, where files are often stored. But if you select this new option, Windows search will look at your entire PC.

7. Log In Without a Password
You can now create a Microsoft log in without a password. By providing your phone number, Microsoft will text you a login code every time you sign in. You can use this method to sign into Windows 10, then use a Windows Hello authentication method like a PIN or fingerprint for future logins.

8. Start Menu Refinements
A minor change that only affects new installs or accounts is a cleaner Start menu. It features fewer tiles, making it less cluttered. You can also now unpin groups of tiles, allowing you to remove all the obnoxious ads in one go.

How To Add Special Letters In Word
All my cooking recipes have the word "saute" but do not show it with the accent over the letter ẻ. That one is easy, Ctrl+’+e will show an e' with the ' (accent) over the letter e.



Or you can Insert > Symbols > Symbol

The entire Word help page is found at: https://tinyurl.com/yb8vwfo7

How about Google Docs?



Insert > Special characters > Latin

Click on the letter with the accent you need and close the window. It should now be in your document.

View Your Facebook Profile as Public
If you want to view your Facebook profile as public so you can see what others see (people who aren't your friends), you can do so quite easily by using Facebook's public viewing feature.



On your page, click the ellipse in the lower right of your profile picture
https://tinyurl.com/y762jkse

Create a Shortcut or Hotkey to Turn the Desktop Icons On or Off
Note: this article was originally written a couple of years ago, but we tested it out on Windows 8, 8.1, and even Windows 10 to verify that it works and figured that we’d update and publish it again.
https://tinyurl.com/ybuhhu5z



Download the application

Download HideDesktopIcons Application

Create a shortcut to it and place it on the taskbar

Now every time you click on the taskbar icon the desktop icons will be toggled off and on.

Transfer Photos And Videos From An Android Phone To PC
First, connect your phone to a PC with a USB cable that can transfer files. Then turn your phone on and unlock it. Your PC can’t find the device if the device is locked.

On your PC, select the Start button and then select Photos to open the Photos app.

Select Import > From a USB device, then follow the instructions. You can pick the items you want to import and select where to save them. Allow a few moments for detection and transfer.
https://tinyurl.com/y6v9ocht

Take A Cell Phone Screenshot

On an Android cell phone

Open the screen that you want to capture.

Depending on your phone: Press and hold the Power + Volume down buttons at the same time for a few seconds. If that doesn't work, press and hold the Power button for a few seconds. Then tap Screenshot. ...

At the top of the screen, you'll find Screenshot capture.

On an iPhone

Press the Side button and the Home button at the same time. The screenshot will be in your Gallary.